Elizabeth Warren turns conservative with campaign cash

Her progressive allies said Warren is right to be cautious right now about how involved she gets in individual campaigns.

“I think she’s getting her feet on the ground,” said Robert Borosage, founder of the progressive Institute for America’s Future. “Her instinct … this year would be to sensibly … support allies in the Senate and in the House — not just any Democrat. I think she will first spend time [campaigning] for progressives that are already in the Senate and then she’ll take a look elsewhere to see if there’s a strong ally that she really believes in.”

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Warren spokeswoman Lacey Rose defended her campaign involvement.

“Senator Warren believes it is critical for Democrats to maintain control over the U.S. Senate and is working to support 2014 candidates,” Rose said in a statement. “The latest Republican filibusters over the extension of unemployment insurance are further indications that a Congress fully controlled by Republicans would be bad for working families and further tilt the playing field for powerful interests.”

Moderate Democratic candidates also have to be mindful of not appearing to Warren’s supporters to be at odds with her progressive approach.

Just ask Third Way, a centrist think tank, and its honorary co-chair Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.), who is running for governor. Progressive activists attacked the group and Schwartz after two of its leaders wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal criticizing Warren and others for embracing economic populism.

The fight just shored up the reputation of the activist left’s influence and viability.

“There are organizations that exist today that didn’t exist a couple of cycles ago — PCCC is on the radar on the screen. [Democracy for America] is on there, and groups like MoveOn.org,” Weiland said. “The Warren candidacy was really a culmination of a lot of those groups just coalescing behind her candidacy and really helping her to compete financially so her message wasn’t co-opted or drowned out.”

In the coming weeks, Warren is scheduled to lend a hand to colleagues in the Senate and back home.

She is slated to do an event in February for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and events for incumbent Sens. Al Franken in Minneapolis and Sherrod Brown in Ohio at the end of March. On New Year’s Eve, Warren sent a fundraising email calling on her supporters to donate to Franken and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).

Warren has lent her name to fundraising emails for several Democrats, mostly for Franken and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who is also up for reelection.

Beyond Franken and Merkley, she’s sent fundraising emails for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky; Michelle Nunn in Georgia; and Natalie Tennant in West Virginia — each high-profile races. She has also sent out a mass email in December announcing her support for state Sen. Wendy Davis in her bid for governor of Texas.

But she hasn’t stumped for them — though widely popular on the dollar circuit, making an in-person appearance in more moderate states like Kentucky and Georgia could do more harm than good to candidates.

“They are in tough fights, and they all need strong grassroots support,” she wrote in the email.

Warren’s PAC also sprinkled donations of $10,000 — the maximum amount her PAC can contribute in a cycle — or less to each of their campaigns. She did the same for the Senate campaigns for Reps. Bruce Braley of Iowa and Gary Peters of Michigan. Warren has also contributed to the Massachusetts congressional delegation with donations of $5,200 each.

Warren will likely find herself more in the public spotlight this spring, when she is expected to release — and promote — a new book.

Candidates eager for Warren to hit the campaign trail with them or hold fundraisers for their campaigns are hoping that spotlight shines in their races.